Climate Change: Observations on Federal Efforts to Adapt to a Changing Climate

This Government Accountability Office report (GAO-09-534T), dated March 29, 2009, provides observations on federal efforts to adapt to a changing climate. Changes in the earth’s climate attributable to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases may have significant environmental and economic impacts in the United States and
internationally.

Among other potential impacts, experts agree that climate change could threaten coastal areas with rising sea levels, alter agricultural productivity, and increase the intensity and frequency of floods and tropical storms. Federal, state, and local agencies are tasked with a wide array of responsibilities, such as managing natural resources, that will be affected by a changing climate. Furthermore, climate change
has implications for the fiscal health of the federal government, affecting federal crop and flood insurance programs, and placing new stresses on infrastructure. The effects of increases in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and temperature on ecosystems and economic growth are expected to vary across regions, countries, and economic sectors